The invention relates to automotive vehicles provided at the front with a telescopic arm carrying a loading bucket and at the rear with an excavating shovel, generally known as backhoe elevators or shovel loaders.
French patent 2.696.199 in the name of MANITOU BF discloses a backhoe elevator with a central telescopic arm, in which the front driver station of the telescopic arm as well as the rear driver station for the excavating shovel are located within a cab having an L-shaped configuration. When the operator is in the front driver station, he is seated on his seat disposed laterally between the front wheel and the rear wheel on one side of the backhoe elevator, such that the telescopic arm constitutes an obstacle to lateral visibility of the operator on the side opposite the cab relative to the telescopic arm.
Moreover, because of the L-shape of the cab, the exit from the cab from the front driver station can take place only from the side opposite the telescopic arm and the exit from the cab from the rear driver station can take place only after having moved the seat to the rear position and having turned the latter an additional quarter turn.
As a result, this known backhoe elevator has on the one hand the drawback of poor visibility laterally and forwardly in the loading position, the telescopic arm interfering with the view of the driver on the side opposite that of the cab, and on the other hand, is costly to produce by reason of the high cost of production of the cab.